The threat from security intrusions will never diminish but can be
avoided when the latest security updates are identified and installed
with UpdateEXPERT. UpdateEXPERT secures your systems by managing
service packs and hotfixes network-wide. Supporting Windows NT/2000/XP
and a long list of mission critical applications, UpdateEXPERT allows
you to research available fixes, inventory your installations, deploy
updates to any number of networked machines, and validate that the
job was done right. Download an eval now:Visit Plug Security Holes! for more information.

EDITORS CORNER

New Year, New Tools

Hi All,

In this issue we're presenting 4 new products we got on the Sunbelt
website in the last few weeks. And more will follow shortly. It's a
new budget season, so here's your start with a bunch of fresh, powerful,
newly designed and time saving tools. See the NT/2000 THIRD PARTY NEWS
section.

W2Knews would love more techie subscribers. And referring your friends
may get you an XBOX! Want to play? Click on the link that gets you to
your profile. Complete the profile and propose up to three colleagues.
They will be sent a one-time INVITATION, (not auto-subscribed). They
will need to opt into W2Knews. When they do, both you and them become
eligible for an XBOX -- every week! The picture to the right is me,
with a whole stack of XBOXes that can't wait to get in your hands!
Here is the link, refer a friend and win:Visit Win An XBOX for more information.

TECH BRIEFING

The Ten Immutable Laws of Security

I have talked about this last year, but it does not hurt to repeat
it many times over. Security really is a headache that we need to
confront and handle. It's our part of homeland defense to a certain
extent. And that is true for all countries in the world.

The Microsoft security center investigates thousands of security
reports every year. Out of these, 10 immutable laws of security
filtered out. They wrote them up and explained them in more detail
on their website. Here they are:

Law #1: If a bad guy can persuade you to run his program on your
computer, it?s not your computer anymore.

Law #2: If a bad guy can alter the operating system on your
computer, it?s not your computer anymore.

Law #3: If a bad guy has unrestricted physical access to your
computer, it?s not your computer anymore.

Law #4: If you allow a bad guy to upload programs to your web
site, it?s not your web site any more.

Law #5: Weak passwords trump strong security.

Law #6: A machine is only as secure as the administrator is
trustworthy.

Law #7: Encrypted data is only as secure as the decryption key.

Law #8: An out of date virus scanner is only marginally better
than no virus scanner at all.

Law #9: Absolute anonymity isn't practical, in real life or
on the web.

A spokesperson sent me this about the allegations it can be broken:
"pcAnywhere supports three types of encryption: public key, symmetric,
and pcAnywhere. The scheme referred to in the commentary written by
Pirates Mag is "pcAnywhere encryption". Symantec openly communicates
on its web site and in product documentation that "pcAnywhere encryption"
is available for those users who do not have access to a cryptographic
service provider. The pcAnywhere encryption level is designed to prevent
someone from immediately reading the pcAnywhere data stream. The Symantec
web site further states that if the data stream is captured, a crypto-grapher could easily break the encryption. Go to:http://www.w2knews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=020110RN-pcAnywhereHole

"The differences between the varying encryption levels in pcAnywhere
has always been communicated to our customers. Symantec recommends
that customers who desire a higher level of encryption and who have
access to a cryptographic service provider use either the symmetric
or public key encryption options. If any pcAnywhere customer has
concerns about the security of their pcAnywhere settings, they should
feel free to contact our technical support for assistance".

So they basically say yes, it's a feature and not a bug. OK, so now
we know. If you are looking for remote control software especially
designed by "system admins - for system admins" and with very robust
encryption already built in, check out the Remote Admin product. It's
dirt cheap compared to the other tools out there. Free trial at:http://www.w2knews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=020110RN-Radmin

New Transcender Certs For Novell Certification Released

Nashville, Tenn. - Transcender LLC has released five new products
for Novell certification, NWCert/Advanced 5.1 (exam 50-654), NWCert/Support
5.1 (exam 50-658), NWCert/Design 5.1 (exam 50-659), NWCert/TCP/IP 5.0 (exam
50-649) and NWCert/Tech 5.1 (exam 50-632). Single-user licenses for each
product are available for $149, or licenses for all five can be purchased
in a Pak.

"Transcender has already developed a product, NWCert/Admin 5.1, to help
individuals earn their Certified Novell Administrator (CNA) designations.
By developing these additional products, we wanted to provide CNAs -- and
anyone else seeking the Certified Novell Engineer (CNE) designation --
with even more products that will enable them to achieve their goals,"
says Kelly Mansfield, product manager.

NWCert/Advanced 5.1, NWCert/Support 5.1, NWCert/Design 5.1, NWCert/TCP
/IP 5.0 and NWCert/Tech 5.1 help you prepare for three CNE tracks,
including the NetWare 5 track, the IntraNetWare track and the GroupWise
5 track. All five products are components of Transcender's NW 5 Core Pak
and NW 5 Select Pak. Both products also have Transcender's Money-Back-If-You-Don't-Pass Guarantee. More at:http://www.w2knews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=020110RN-Netware

Gates In Las Vegas - Opens Windows To Wireless

The MS Chief Software Wiz demonstrated wireless devices talk to and
even control PCs. He also showed smart displays that can be pulled off
computers but remain in control. Full article on the WIRED website.
Recommended reading! Especially if you are interested in controlling
your servers remotely. See the two new products below.http://www.w2knews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=020110RN-WinWireless

THIRD PARTY NEWS

New Year, New Tools

We have 4 New products to start off the New Year

Sonic Admin
SonicAdmin is a complete network and server administration utility that
allows you as a system administrator and/or help desk support technician
to diagnose and repair mission critical server and network problems 24
hours a day, 7 days a week, from handheld wireless devices. Ideally you
want to run this from a Pocket PC 2002 type device. Very cool.http://www.w2knews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=020110TPSonicAdmin

StarAdmin
StarAdmin gives you the ability to monitor and manage your servers and
networks remotely, using a web-enabled wireless phone, PDA (PocketPC/Palm)
or two-way pager (RIM/Blackberry). Quite useful if you are moving a lot.http://www.w2knews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=020110TP-StarAdmin

Prism Pack
Prism Pack packages any software for deployment to any PC or laptop
anywhere in your networks, worldwide. Prism Pack revolutionizes software
packaging by making it fast, easy and - above all else reliable. No more
complicated scripting, this puppy is a relief. Great if you already use
SMS, Tivoli or another large deployment environment but spend way too
much time scripting, testing and debugging.http://www.w2knews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=020110TP-PrismPack

Unlike other software deployment solutions, Prism Deploy is easy to
learn and use, is 100% reliable and delivers a return on investment
in just one or two uses. With Prism Deploy, you can finally get software
from shrink wrap to desktop in less than a week, even a single day ?
quickly, reliably, easily. Really.

Product Features
Prism Deploy installs and updates software on any PC or laptop throughout
your entire organization today. Featuring Lanovation's award-winning
software packaging technology an all-new Deployment Console and Conflict
Checker Professional, Prism Deploy is software deployment as it should be.
Prism Deploy includes all the features found in Prism Pack. Prism Deploy's
Key Features are listed below:

Powerful Deployment Console Drag and drop Installation tasks onto
computers or groups of computers no matter where they are.

Now, why a book like this that has nothing to do with NT/W2K?
Many of you are going to a PDA/Cell phone combo this year, and
need a new services plan. I have found this book to be very
useful, as it can save you dozens of dollars per month. It was
written by the people that created the getconnected.com site.
Here is their pitch:

Consumers are paying between 50% and 500% too much every month
for the services that keep them in touch, in tune, and informed.
Why would anyone pay $.30 per minute for long distance when they
could pay just $.05? The answer is because there has not been a
good way to determine the correct services based on the way YOU
use your wireless phone. You will learn how to choose: